| Jaqui’s Story |

Today we’d like to share with you Jaqui’s, one of our members, personal fitness story with you all. As of right now, this story was first posted two years ago. Enjoy!

[First posted September 19, 2014]

Growing up, I was brought up to work hard, and train even harder. As a result, by the time I finished high school, I was a 2nd Dan black belt in Sikaran Arnis (a martial arts discipline from the Philippines), a swimming champion, and champion sports woman in high school. I also participated in Athletics, Netball and Gymnastics.

Besides being involved in sports, I’ve been singing since I was 5 years old. I did dancing, modelling, and professional singing. I’ve had the privilege of singing with Human Nature and won Miss Philippines-Australia Charity Queen in 2001.

I was working on my first single when I fell pregnant and in 2012 gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. Then the year after, I fell pregnant again and gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. Prior to having children, I had to have an operation which potentially reduced my chances of falling pregnant to 40%. So to have two wonderful children so close to each other in age was truly a blessing.

Unfortunately, I had put on so much weight in the process! By the time my son was born, I weighed 107kg. It’s a sad fact of life that the Entertainment Industry places a lot of emphasis on body image, and so negative thoughts and feelings grew within me. I stopped performing publicly and started suffering from severe depression. I hated myself for putting on so much weight and didn’t want friends or to socialise with anyone or go anywhere.

Then, Melissa Asenjo (another KERRIE FITNESS member) told me about KERRIE FITNESS and encouraged me to try a class. At first, I kept putting it off as I didn’t like gyms. I always felt there was too much competition between members and I had no motivation to join in. But she insisted that KERRIE FITNESS was no ordinary gym so in October 2013, I decided to finally give it a try.

My first class was KERRIE CORE and BODYATTACK™ double class. I thought to myself: What the hell did I get myself into?! It was so intense I had to stop all the time during the class. Afterwards, I felt so dead that I couldn’t move the next day. I stood at the back of the room so I didn’t have to see myself in the mirrors. When the going got tough, I’d often collapse in a fit of giggles or pretend to take a very short nap on the mat to recover.

I began with attending evening classes two days a week. Eventually, two days of evening classes turned into three days of evening classes a week. Then I thought to myself, I might as well do four days a week.

After six months, I finally decided I should get to know “everyone”. So I started adding other KERRIE FITNESS members as friends on Facebook. The other members seemed so nice and supportive. As I got to know the other members more, I felt comfortable standing next to them in class, which meant standing closer towards the front. By doing that, I made friends with all the front rowers. I was happy because they were all so supportive and so motivating. One front rower in particular caught my attention because she had so much enthusiasm for every class (especially BODYCOMBAT™). We’d eventually come to be the best of friends and my biggest supporter. Happy coincidence – it turned out that she was from the Philippines too.

They were the people who I looked up to and I thought, That’s how fit and strong I want to be one day.

The weeks flew by and with lots of encouragement from Kerrie and Trevor and a number of other KF regulars, I finally decided to go up in my weights in BODYPUMP™ class. The thing is, I can’t say “no” to these amazing people that I admire so much. With their help, I managed to work my way towards a regular squat weight of 20kg.

I have so much respect for Kerrie and Trevor because as a performer, I know how much time and effort they have to put into constantly learning choreography for new launches and mixes – whether it’s to make us feel stronger and fitter, or to lose weight or to help us feel better about ourselves. I am so proud to be part of the KERRIE FITNESS crew, and will never look back. I can’t thank you both enough for all the support, motivation, advice and happiness the two of you have brought back into my life.

Today, with the help of my very supportive partner and family, I attend pretty much every class on the timetable not only for myself, but to help others stay motivated. I’ll make friends with new faces because I know what it’s like to be unhappy and lost, and how much easier it was to find your way from the back of the room when pulled by the energy coming from the front of the room.

Less than a year into my 1st year of KERRIE FITNESS membership and I now weigh 65kg. It makes me believe, without a doubt, that when Kerrie says, “I CAN! I WILL!”, whatever you set as your goal can and will be achieved.

‘Till next time, Jaqui <3

A note from Kerrie: Omg Jacqui! I love finding out about these things I had no clue of. You sung with Human Nature, won Miss Philippines-Australia Charity Queen in 2001, not to mention 2nd Dan black belt, swimming and sports champ. You have achieved and succeeded in so very much. It’s just amazing, congratulations!

A huge thank you to Melissa for bringing you to us. She knew all along you’d love it. You’ve grown from the giggle girt (which I loved – anything to get through the workout I say!) into a super hard working athlete.

I can see your transformation, as can your fellow fitness buddies. I feel blessed to have been part of the reason to bring you back your shining light.You’re an absolute treasure. Shining star. Now I can’t wait to see you perform! Thank you for sharing your story x

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| About Us |

Kerrie Fitness is a group fitness studio, owned and operated by Kerrie and Trevor. With 6 programs on offer, we train those just starting out in fitness and challenge those who have been exercising their whole life.